Inflation and Covid have pushed 70 million Asians into extreme poverty

The Asian Development Bank confirmed that rising food and fuel prices and the coronavirus outbreak have pushed some 70 million more people in “developing Asia” into extreme poverty last year.

The Manila-based bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $2.15 a day based on 2017 inflation-adjusted rates.

According to “French”, the Foundation explained that an estimated 155.2 million people (3.9 per cent of the region’s population) lived in extreme poverty in 2022 — 67.8 million more than would have been the case without the epidemic and the high cost of living. “Developing Asia” refers to the 46 emerging member economies of the Multilateral Bank, which extend from Kazakhstan in Central Asia to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. The report explained that the poor are hardest hit by high inflation because they are less able to pay higher prices for necessities, leaving many unable to save money, pay for health care or invest in education.

The Asian Development Bank estimates that the epidemic has pushed an additional 75 to 80 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, compared with its pre-epidemic projections.

The bank estimated in July that inflation will fall to 3.6 per cent this year – from 4.4 per cent in 2022 – as food and fuel prices fall. The report added that while Asian developing economies are expected to continue to make progress in eradicating poverty, an estimated 1.26 billion people, about 30 per cent of the region’s projected population by 2030, will continue to be considered “economically vulnerable”.